Starter for a gasoline engine



Aug. 29, 1961 P. vAKos 2,997,995

STARTER FOR A GAsoLINE ENGINE Filed Oct. 16, 1958 //V l/E/V TOR.'

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A TTOR/VEV United States Patent 2,997,995 STARTER FOR A GASOLINE ENGINE Peter Vakos, 1205 Wisconsin Ave., Racine, Wis. Filed Oct. 16, 1958, Ser. No. 767,708 3 Claims. (CI. 123--179) This invention relates to a spring impulse type of starter for small gasoline engines.

It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved spring impulse type of starter, and it is a specific object of this invention to provide a spring impulse type of starter which cannot be damaged by the operator by virtue of attempting to wind the spring in the wrong direction.

Another object of this invention is to provide a crank operated spring impulse type of starter which can be mounted on existing types of engines and operated thereon in positions Where full clearance is not provided for cranking or winding-up of the spring. In the particular embodiment shown herein, this object is accomplished by the provision of a means which permits the cranking handle to be utilized in the -nature of a ratchet handle so that the handle can be oscillated back and forth for winding the spring rather than rotated through a complete circle in winding of the spring, it being understood that due to the engine design, adequate clearance for complete circular movement of the handle is not available.

Still another object of this invention is lto provide a spring impulse type of starter with an improved means for engaging the spring with the engine crank shaft through intermediate parts and to do so prior to release of the energy of the spring for starting the engine.

Still other objects and advantages of this invention include the provision of a starter having the aforementioned advantages and objects in addition to the starter being simple in its construction and number of parts, considering the results achieved, and also with the parts being sturdy and the entire starter being safe and reliable in its operation.

FIG. 1 is an elevational sectional view of a starter showing a preferred embodiment of this invention with parts broken away and with the starter shown mounted on a fragment of an engine.

FIG. 2 is a lbottom plan View of a fragment of the handle shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional View showing a modification of the parts employed between the starter and the engine for connecting the two in rotary drive relation.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a fragment of another embodiment of the connection between the starter handle and the starter shaft.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views.

FIG. l shows a fragment of an engine housing on which is mounted the starter by means of bolts 1'1, and the starter is shown to consist of an outer housing 12 and an inner housing 13. The two housing members are, of course, secured together and the inner housing member 13 contains the impulse spring 14 which is shown to be anchored at 16 in the housing 13 while the inner end of the spring is attached to the starter shaft 17 by means of the pin 18 which extends through the shaft to engage the inner end of the spring 14. It will, of course, be understood that the spring 14 is wound from inside to the outer end 16 in a spiral direction which is the same as the normal running direction of rotation of the engine crank shaft 19. Thus, of course, when the spring 14 is wound and the energy thereof is released, it will drive the shaft 19 in the latters normal or running direction of rotation.

'Ihe parts shown for rotating the shaft 17 to wind the spring 14 include the handle 21 which is attached by means of a vbolt 22 and lock washer 23 to a sleeve 24 which extends down into the starter housing 12 and terminates in a hub 26. The inner end 27 of the handle 21 is shown in FIG. 2 to include an oblong shaped opening 28 which locks with the upper end of the sleeve 24 to be rotatably attached to the latter -by virtue of keying therewith through the opening 28. The handle 21 also has an outer end 29 which is hingedly or pivotally attached to the end 27 through the pin 31 which extends through the bifurcation 32 of the end 29 and through the end 27. The end or portion 29 also has a ange 33 which abuts the edge 34 of the end 27 when the two ends are in the straight position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Also, the opposite edge of the handle 21 comes into abutting relation at 35. Thus, in this straight and abutting relation, the handle will ytransmit the force supplied by the operator on a handled knob 36 and such force will, of course, rotate the-sleeve 24 in a direction o-pposite to the normal running direction of the crank shaft 19. It should also be understood that if the operator attempted to crank the starter in the opposite direction, the handle 21 would collapse as the section 29 would pivot about the pin 31 so that the knob 36 would move to a position adjacent the bolt 22 and thus the operator could not apply sufficient torque through the handle to damage any parts of the starter. These parts are not intended to rotate in the running direction of the crank shaft 19 in the cranking of the starter.

As the spring 14 is wound, it of course has a tendency to unwind itself, and to overcome this tendency, a stop is provided at the lower end of the sleeve 24, and the stop is composed of the coil spring 37 shown wrapped around the sleeve hub 26 with one end 38 of the spring being limited in rotative movement by a pin 39 secured to the housing 12. The actual connection between the spring end 38 'and the pin 39 is a lost motion connection in that the spring end 38 is looped around the pin 39 to be much larger than the diameter of the pin so that the spring end 38 has limited movement in a rotative direction about the axis of the shaft 17 and with respect to the pin 39. See my U.S. Patent No. 2,875,851 for additional showing. With this type of uni-directional connector or stop 37, the sleeve 24 can be freely rotated in the direction opposite to the direction A of rotation of the crank shaft 19 and such direction is thus shown to be direction B on the shaft 17. When the sleeve 24 is urged to rotate in the direction of rotation yas indicated by arrow A, the spring 37 tightens upon the sleeve hub 26 to prevent the sleeve from such rotation. Also a pin 41 extends through the shaft 17 and engages a diametrically disposed slot 42 in the lower end of the hub 26 to provide the drive connection between the shaft 17 and the sleeve 24. The leaf spring 43 is disposed above the hub 26 to force between the housing 12 and the hub 26 and thereby keep the sleeve 24 in a downward position in engagement with the pin 41. To release the stop described and permit the shaft 17 to rotate, a cam 44 is provided at the upper end of the housing 1-2 and the latter thus has an incline or cam face 46, which is, of course, faced upwardly, and the cam sleeve 44 has a similar and mating inclined cam face which is faced downwardly for engagement with the housing incline. An arm 47 extends from the cam sleeve 44 so that the latter can be rotated and thereby lifted on the stationary incline 46 to, in turn, raise the sleeve 24 to a position where the sleeve slot 42 is free of the shaft pin 41 and the shaft 17 is then free to rotate in the direction of the arrow A.

To connect the shaft 17 to the crank shaft 1-9, the'` lower end of the shaft 17 has an arm 48 non-rotatably Patented Aug. 29, 1961v attached to the shaft ,17 through the bolt 49. The arm 48 thus rotates with the shaft 17 and particularly rotates therewith during the lost-motion rotation of the shaft 17. The outer end of the arm 48 carries a pin 51 which pivotally supports a pawl S2 as shown in FIG. l and also as shown in .U.S. patent application SerialV No. 715,451 and now Patent No. 2,875,851. The pawl 5-2 also has an arm, such as the arm or retarding member 53' of FIG.V 3, integral threwith and the arm extends partly around the Vaxis of the shaft 17 and in the direction of rotation of the crank shaft 19. The free end of the arm 53 is shown in FIG. 3 to have a rivet or shoe 54 which is in sliding engagement with a stationary member yS6 with the latter preferably being of a brake lining material or other high wear and high friction characteristic material. It will thus be understood that when the shaft 17Vrotates slightly infthe direction of the arrow A, the shoe 54 will slide on the member 56 with sutn'cient frictional resistance to cause the arm 53 to pivot radially outwardly and thus cause the pawl 52 to move outwardly and engage the teeth 57 shown inside the ring'SS which is attache-d to the crank shaft'19 tor rotate with the latter. This Vaction causes positive engagement between the pawl and ratchet teeth priorto the release of the full energy of the spring y14. Y

Another embodiment of connecting the rotation of the shaft 17 to the crank 19 is shown in FIG. 3, and in this embodiment the member 59, of the brake lining material, is shown to replace the .pawl 52, and also a ring '61, preferably of a brake lining material, is shown to replace' thecratchet teeth 57. The oper-ation is such that the outward pivotal movement of .the arm 53 causes the shoe 59 to tightly engage the ring 61 so that the two parts arein `a driving relation, and thus rotation from the shaft 17 to thecrank shaft 19 can be accomplished. When the engine commences tiring and the ring S8 is rotated at aV high speed, the shoe 59 will be over-run by the ring 61 andra tension return spring 62 can then move the arm 53 radially inwardly and correspondingly move the shoe S9Voffl engagement with the ring v61. To insure firm contact'between the shoe 59 and the ring 61, acslot 63 is provided in the shoe S9 lfor receiving the pin 51 and theslotv is oriented in a direction so that the rotationofV the pin 51 about the Vaxis of the shaft l17 will Wedge the/shoe S9 radially outwardly and intoY tight contact with the ring i61.l Also, the slot 63, being so oriented, permits they shoe 59. to readily move inwardly Whenlthe ringSS commences. to overrun the shoe 59 as the engine isrunning. i Y Y FIG; 4 shows another embodiment of connecting the crank to theshaft 17 vand in this instance a crank 64 is understood to vbe of Y a rigid rather than the hinged type'of crank/21 and the crank 641 is attached to a sleeve 66 by virtue of the'bolt- 67 as shown. A bearing member hub 68Y is non-rotatably connected to the sleeve 66 byapin '69passing between the Vtwo members so that any 'rotation ofthe hub68 will, correspondingly: rotate the( sleeve 66, and itl-will. also heunderstood that the latter is .attached to theshaft 17 in. themanner shown inl-TIG'.V 1.V Here, also,a'cam is employed forreleasing the' attachment of the .sleeve .66 from the shaftland Ythis islas shown and described inthe Vreference patent.

Anni-directional connector. or coil spring 71 is `wrapped aroundthe hub 6 8 .and thelooped end 72 of thespring 7.1 engagesa pin 73 which isA attached tothe .handle 64.1 Thus. rotationl of the handle l64 causes thespring end 'l2V tomoyecorres'pondngly and the spring 7-1 is coiled around the hub 68in adirection so that when-the handle 6,4. is, rotated in the direction indicated Vby' the arrow 5B1 Vthe spring7l will tighten upon the hub 68 to rotate the latter by-the rotation of thehandle 64. This action, of course, Vwinds' upv the spring '14 while rotation ofthe handle in the direction of the arrow-fin will Simply. solo@ tho spriiis 7110 slip on the hunts and 4 l s thus the part of the starter cannot possibly be damaged. Also, since the handle can rotate the shaft 17 in only the one direction, as described, the handle 64 is in the nature of a ratchet handle and it need not be swung through a full circle for winding the spring, but rather it caribe oscillate'd through an arc so that continuous oscillation will cause theV spring 14 toV be wound as desired. Thus, the sleeve Z4 forms a part of what is termed `a coupler which also includm hub 68 and spring 71 at one end of the coupler, and spring or stop 37 with pin 3-9 at the other end of the coupler. The described cam then serves as the coupler release. t

What is claimed: 1. In a spring impulse type of starter for Vuse on a gasoline engine including a crankshaft rotatable in an engine running direction and with the starter including a housing and -a coil spring spiraled around a shaft from i inside outwardly in said running direction and including a crank handle and rotation transmitting means with the latter disposed between said shaft and said crankshaft and engageable and disengageable therebetween, the combination comprising a sleeve journaled on said shaft and being rotatable thereon, a uni-directional drive connector disposed between said crank handle and said sleeve for rotating the latter, means concentric with said shaft and disposed at one end of said sleeve and including a projection for engaging the inner end ofV said coil spring in a direction opposite to said running direction to wind s ,aid coil spring, a stop mechanism operatively interiposed between said housing and said'sleeve and being at the end of said shaft opposite said one end of said sleeve and being disposed to the outside of said sleeve with one part ythereof attached to said housing in a holding position Yand another part thereof connected to and encircling said sleeve for securing said sleeve against rotation inthe engine running direction,r a stop `spring yieldingly' urging said stop mechanismV into securing posi- Y tion, and a stop release axially movably mounted and operatively .disposed betweenisaid crank handle and said stop for wedging said stop against the force of said stop spring and free from a holding position onrsaid housing for releasing'sai'd coil spring for rotation in the engine running direction and simultaneously releasing saidlcranlc handle from a rotational drive relation with said coil spring. Y Y Y V2. In ka spring impulsetype of starterlfor use on a gasoline engine including a crankshaft rotatable in au engine running direction and with the. starter including a housing and a coil spring spiraled around a'shaft from inside outwardly in said nuuning direction and including rotation transmitting means between -said shaft rand said crankshaft and engageableland disengageable therebetween, the combination comprising a sleeve journaledron said shaft and being rotatable thereon, means concentric with said shaft and disposed at one end of said sleeve and including a projection for engaging the inner end of said coil spring in a direction opposite to saidl running direction to wind saidcoil spring, a crank handle piloted-'onV said shaft to `be ,rotatably mounted, apin. attache-dt to and depending'from said crank handle, annidirectional connector kattached tosaidmpin and extending-.therefrom toward said Sloo'vo and boing ,in rotational relationwitgh 'said Ysleeve only in said opposite direction -ofrotatioma stop mechanism operatively interposed between saidhousi'ngV andV said sleeve and being :'ittheend of said shaft opposite said one endV of' said sleevelrand k'being disposed to the outsideY of said sleeve with one part thereof attached to said' housing in a holdin-g Yposition and yanother part thereof connected to and encirclingsaid sleeve :fori securing said sleeve against rotationA in the engineY running direction, a stop'spring yieldingly urging said'stop mechanism into Securing posi-l I tion, and agstop release axially movably mounted and spring and free from a holding position on said housing for releasing said coil spring for rotation in the engine running direction and simultaneously releasing said crank handle from a rotational drive relation with said coil spring.

3. In ya spring impulse type of starter for use on a gasoline engine including a crankshaft rotatable in an engine running direction and with the starter including a housing and a coil spring spiraled around a shaft from inside outwardly in said running direction and including a crank handle and rotation transmitting means with the latter disposed between said shaft and said crankshaft and engageable and disengageable therebetween, the combination comprising a coupler having one end thereof drivingly interposed between said crank handle and said coil spring for winding the latter and the other end thereof engaged with said housing for restraining the unwinding of said coil spring, a pin depending on said handle and connected to said coupler for forming a. drive connection therebetween -for rotation of said coupler upon rotation of said crank handle, a stop spring engaged with said coupler for yieldingly urging said coupler into driving relation with said coil spring, and -a coupler release axially movably mounted yfor engagement with said coupler and being disposed for wedging said coupler against the force of said stop spring and free from a holding position on said housing for releasing said coil spring for rotation in the engine running direction and simultaneously releasing said crank handle from a rotational drive relation with said coil springa References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,300,384 Hanahan Apr. 15, 1919 2,042,841 Harmon June 2, 1936 2,087,968 Dodge July 27, 1937 2,518,701 Luenberger Aug. 15, 1950 2,552,747 Strimple et al. May 15. 1951 2,735,029 Dyer et a1. Feb. 14, 1956 2,793,542 Hirschkorn May 28, 1957 2,804,173 Millar Aug. 27, 1957 2,857,984 Skinner Oct. 28, 1958 2,869,682 Millar Ian. 20, 1959 2,875,851 Vakos Mar. 2, 1959 2,922,411 Skinner Jan. 26, 1960 

